LAUSR

A recent article published in European Psychiatry [1] verified that, in comparison to younger adults with ADHD, older patients performed at a similar level with regard to working memory and planning, but significantly better in inhibition, switching, fluency, speed of processing and delay aversion. The authors pointed out the need for follow-up studies in order to confirm their findings. We assessed the vocabulary and block design Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale Revised (WAIS-R) subtest scores in adults diagnosed with ADHD at the moment they sought the initial ADHD evaluation (but after stabilization of major comorbidities) and 8.5 years later during a clinical follow-up. Adult individuals with ADHD that agreed to participate in the follow-up and whose baseline evaluation included estimated IQ (n = 123) were then reevaluated. This data subset (Table 1) is part of a larger follow-up study of adults with ADHD [2]. Paired sample t-tests with effect size estimation were used to evaluate longitudinal changes in WAIS-R subtest scores. The WAIS-R block design (t = 3.52; P = 0.001) and vocabulary scores (t = 7.51; P < 0.001) increased significantly at the follow-up evaluation. Cohen’s d effect sizes were small for block design scores (d = 0.318) and medium for vocabulary scores (d = 0.677). This suggests an improvement in vocabulary scores and a very slight improvement or preserved functioning in the block design subtest. We also tested if such time-related improvement